City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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It’s playoff time in District 1. 

The various leagues that make up the four suburban Philadelphia counties are all transitioning from the regular season to the postseason this week, with championships early next week and the District 1 tournaments to follow. 

Here’s a look at each bracket in the Suburban One League, with a breakdown of each to follow:

Girls
First Round — Fri., Feb. 7 (at higher seed)
1) Central Bucks East vs. 8) Plymouth Whitemarsh
2) Upper Dublin vs. 7) North Penn
3) Cheltenham vs. 6) Pennsbury
4) Council Rock South vs. 5) Neshaminy

Semifinals — Sat., Feb. 8 (at higher seed)

Championship — Mon., Feb. 10 (Bensalem HS)

CB East and Upper Dublin have been near the top of the District 1 power rankings all season, not surprising for a pair of teams that returned quite a bit of their top producers from last season when they both went to states. The Patriots start five players who can knock down shots, sophomore Haley Moran the conductor at point guard who finishes well inside and creates a lot of threes off her drives. Sydney Ralph is the only senior in the first five, the two-sport athlete a jack-of-all-trades who always plays with max energy. Junior Jess Lockwood is a lights-out perimeter shooter who can heat up quickly, classmate Natalie Berndt is a terrific wing defender who shoots the three at a high rate and junior Emma Penecale is a capable shooter on a kick-out. Senior Savannah Hayes and junior Delaney Long provide support off the bench for coach Liz Potash.
Upper Dublin was last year’s runner-up, the tournament proving costly when Megan Ngo went down with an injury in the quarterfinals. The junior point guard, who committed to FDU before the season, hasn’t missed  a game this year and is the tone-setter on both ends for Morgan Funsten’s group. Sophomore Tamia Clark has emerged as one of the area’s most improved players and the addition of junior Emilia Coleman has given UD a strong main trio. Sophomore Bridget DiMartile, a starter in three varsity sports, is the team’s main frontcourt option and a pair of freshmen in Ella Brown and Lexi Ngo have formed a solid 1-2 rotation in the fifth spot of the lineup.
East owns a head-to-head win over UD, 47-43 on Jan. 17, but they wouldn’t meet again until the title game.

The newcomer to the field, and one of the surprise teams in general not only in the SOL but District 1 at large, is Cheltenham. First-year coach Monique Boykins has molded a group that showed flashes of potential in prior years into one that will make its first district playoffs since 2017-18, so this tournament will be a nice postseason warm-up. The Panthers have a strong core led by junior guards Mya Simmons and Paige Powell while junior forward Zoe Thompson is a monster on the glass and a capable scorer. Seniors Jiah Price and Cassie Bugg are also mainstays for a group that’s at its best playing uptempo and looking to cause chaos on defense.

Council Rock South made the SOL tournament two years ago, giving eventual champion Plymouth Whitemarsh quite a run in the quarterfinals. A lot of those players are still with the Golden Hawks, now seniors and coming as one of the district’s hottest teams on the heels of their first division title since 2011-12. The senior trio of Kathryn O’Kane, Lil Metrick and Fiona Reckner have been day one fixtures in the rotation while senior twins Sarah and Maria Freeman have brought plenty of energy all year with Maria willingly taking on a sixth player role. That freed up junior Bella Hettler to establish herself as a rim protecting post presence while junior Emerson Gunther provides extra shooting off the bench under first-year coach Steve Polinski.

The wildcards, which are determined by District 1 power rating, include defending champion Neshaminy at the No. 5 seed. Alena Cofield is the team’s only senior, the recent Arcadia recruit a relentless force who has led a group for coach John Gallagher that’s built heavily on its sophomore class led by Hayley Kolk, Grace Weyler, Mia Raivitch and Ashlyn Duffy. Neshaminy split its two regular season meetings with CR South, so that certainly makes for an intriguing quarterfinal tilt.

While Cheltenham likes to play uptempo, Pennsbury is at its best playing a controlled pace. Veteran coach Frank Sciolla has a pretty young group this year but the Falcons have done a nice job of growing up quick and playing to each other’s strengths. Seniors Maggie Burns and Ava Jordan set the tone by always playing hard, junior Emily Panaro is a solid inside player and a young backcourt of sophomore Sammie Haws and freshman Alyssa Thomas have already had some big moments.

North Penn will get another look at Upper Dublin, coach Brianna Cullen’s group a little more seasoned than when the teams met in mid-December. Senior Cam Crowley conducts things at the point while sophomore wing Lily Brown has emerged as a top offensive option. Senior Leah Mikulski and junior Tallie Smink are established players while the Knights have gotten a jolt from their younger players like sophomores Jadyn Sperling and Mehya Godhania.

Plymouth Whitemarsh remains to date the only program, boys or girls, to win back to back SOL titles. Current juniors AJ Avery and Kenna Winland were freshmen on that second league championship team and they’ve since stepped into leading roles for the Colonials. Taylor Williams is the lone senior in the rotation for PW and despite the loss of junior Joslyn Perez early in the season, the Colonials have gotten contributions from Eliza Meersman, Olivia Patete, Mia Baron and Grace Harvey.

Boys
First Round — Fri., Feb. 7 (at higher seed)
1) Upper Dublin vs. 8) Cheltenham
2) Upper Moreland vs. 7) Central Bucks East
3) Souderton vs. 6) Central Bucks South
4) Bensalem vs. 5) Plymouth Whitemarsh

Semifinals — Sat, Feb. 8 (at higher seed)

Championship — Tues., Feb. 11 (Bensalem HS)

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Upper Dublin is the defending SOL champion and the Cardinals enter as the hottest team in all of District 1 having won 21 games in a row after dropping their season opener at Lower Merion. Included in that long winning run are almost all the other teams in the SOL tournament field, UD having topped PW twice in SOL Liberty play, Souderton in the Jim Church Classic final, Upper Moreland in their own tournament final and Cheltenham in an early nonleague test.

A battle-tested group led by senior do-it-all wing Ryan Mulroy, senior stretch big man Idris Rines and junior sparkplug point guard Kobe Bazemore makes coach Derek Brooks’ group a formidable one. The Cardinals have a lot of depth too, guards Brandon Altman and Reilly McLaughlin are solid, wings Justin Ragsdale and Horace Jackson are improving and James Castronouvo is a solid backup big man. They’ll be the top seed in the Class 5A tournament where they finished runner-up last year but UD isn’t overlooking its chance to be the first boys’ team to repeat as SOL champions.

Upper Moreland comes in winners of seven straight, Dan Heiland’s Golden Bears fresh off their first league title in more than 40 years with a share of the SOL Freedom division title alongside Cheltenham. UM, which is set up for a top four seed in the Class 5A bracket, is powered by a strong backcourt anchored by senior Colson Campbell and junior Nate Best. Larry Hughes, a standout football receiver, may not be a traditional big at 6-foot-4 but he’s done a nice job inside. The Bears get contributions from a well-rounded supporting cast including Anthony Carson, Jadon Cybok, Luke Roussel and Cannon Campbell

Souderton and CB South have played two classics already this season, so it makes too much sense that they’d go at it for a third time. Their second meeting of the week will take place at Souderton, where CB South pulled off a 51-50 win back on Jan. 7. In an interesting twist, South is actually the higher ranked team in the District 1 Class 6A table, but Souderton is the division champion so they get hosting rights.

Souderton is paced by a triple-threat backcourt led by juniors Chanse Salone and Nate Rusike and senior Nolan Watkins. Trey Bui adds some more depth to a Souderton guard lineup that’s very good at running the floor and supported by mobile forwards in Grady Kovach and Thaddeus Harter. CB South counters with a well-rounded and deep group led by Leo Medwid, a stout defender who has also emerged as a scorer, guards Brett Barrett and Danny Gies and forwards Kayode Adebayo and Benjamin Harrison.

Bensalem took its SOL Patriot title defense down to the wire, needing a two overtime win against Neshaminy to secure it on Tuesday. The Owls, who sit No. 14 in the Class 6A rankings, get the reward of a quarterfinal against a Plymouth Whitemarsh squad ranked No. 5 in Class 6A. Bensalem coach Ron Morris has a gritty group led by senior Amir Drummond, a talented scorer who has also become a strong facilitator and junior Aidan Mayfield, a standout football player who guards the opponents’ top player and is a force around the basket. Seniors  Jahmir Chatman and Michael Kramer anchor the frontline and seniors Christian Lee and Chris Kelly plus juniors Jacob Eberhardt and Dymaire Johnson add depth in the backcourt. PW counters with junior Mani Sajid, the latest in a long line of standout guards for coach Jim Donofrio who can win a game by himself on some nights. The Colonials also have a solid big man in junior Mike Pereira and the backcourt is bolstered by point guards Jack Hayes and Buddy Denard while Caleb Bridgeman, Micah Thompson and Terron Davis lead the wings. 

CB East has been a regular in the SOL tournament over the years although this year’s group doesn’t have a ton of experience actually playing in those games. Senior Nolan Behm, one of the best baseball players in the state, has been the Patriots go-to guy all season and he’s gotten a good bit of help from Shane O’Hara-Jamison and AJ Molnar. Henry Bartchak and Graham Smith have also had some strong outings this season.

The quirky, unusual seeding system the SOL uses for this tournament means a division co-champion in Cheltenham occupies the last wildcard spot into the field. The Panthers lost to Upper Dublin very early in the season, but coach Patrick Fleury has led his group to a likely top 10 seed in the Class 6A tournament. Cheltenham is always a tough out thanks to an aggressive defense. Seniors Osei Johnson and Salim Kelley have stepped into the leadership roles for the Panthers, who also get plenty of contributions from Justin Ezeukwu, Mark Hill and Xavier Willoughby among others in a deep cast.